MURFRESSBORO, NC – A trio of Patriots scored 17 points each as Francis Marion University claimed a 67-58 road win at Chowan University, Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 16) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion improves to 6-3 overall and remains unbeaten in conference play at 3-0.  FMU will close out its pre-Christmas schedule with a 3 p.m. tip-off at 24th-ranked Columbus State University on Friday.  The next home game for the Patriots will be Dec. 31 at noon against Carson-Newman University.
 
Junior 5-11 center Jasmine Grant led FMU with career-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds.  The Summerville, S.C., native canned 8-of-11 field goal attempts and blocked four shots.  Senior forward Bentlee Chockley also scored 17 points and pulled nine rebounds with four assists and three steals.
 
Patriot sophomore point guard Kiara Croskey also tallied 17 points, all coming in the first half, while matching Chockley with nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
 
Wisdom Banks came off the Chowan bench (3-6, 1-4) to score a career-high 16 points.
 
Francis Marion raced to a quick 7-0 lead to open the game, but the Hawks rallied to take a 12-11 lead, and would lead 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.
 
A bucket by Croskey to open the second period regained the lead for FMU at 15-14, but Chowan responded with a 10-3 spurt to go up 24-18.  The Patriots answered with an 11-0 run, taking the lead for good at 25-24 on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jordan Mintz from the right elbow.  Croskey capped the run with a lay-up that produced a 29-24 advantage with 1:56 left on the clock.  A right-corner three by sophomore guard Angel Walker and two Croskey free throws allowed Francis Marion to take a 34-28 halftime advantage.
 
Chockley and Grant combined for a 5-0 spurt to open the third quarter as the margin reached double figures at 39-28.  Cockley would score 12 in the period and Grant eight as the Patriots led by as many as 12 points (48-36) before settling for a 55-45 advantage heading to the final period.
 
Chowan used a 6-2 run to start the fourth quarter and climbed to within 57-51 with 8:13 left in the contest.  Grant answered with a pair of inside hoops to push the margin back to 10 points.  The Hawks made one final push, getting to within 61-54 with 3:57 on the clock, but Chockley converted a follow-up basket and later made 1-of-2 free throws to extend the lead back to double digits.
 
Francis Marion connected on 46.6 percent of its shots – its second-best figure of the season – and was 10-of-17 at the free throw stripe.  Chowan was held to 29.2 percent shooting from the floor and the Hawks made only 15-of-26 charity tosses.